New York State Reveals Digital Health Accelerator Participants

The New York eHealth Collaborative has announced the companies that will participate in the state's digital health accelerator program.

NEW YORK — The New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) along with the New York State Department of Health and the Partnership for New York City Fund have announced which companies they have selected to participate in the digital health accelerator program.
NYeC is a nonprofit organization putting together a health information exchange (HIE) for New York State, called the Statewide Health Information Network for New York (SHIN-NY), and the Partnership for New York City Fund raises funds to encourage financial and business leaders to boost the economy of New York City.
The organizations launched the accelerator April 26, and at the NYeC Digital Health Conference here on Oct. 15, they announced which companies will participate.
The eight selected companies are AdhereTx, Aidin, Avado, CipherHealth, Cureatr, MedCPU, Remedy Systems and SpectraMD.

AdhereTx provides Web-based software for medication management; Aidin is a provider of Web-based platforms for discharging patients from a hospital; and Avado centralizes data from electronic health records (EHRs) and provides tools for clinicians and patients to securely communicate, track and manage health information.

Another accelerator company, CipherHealth, helps doctors coordinate care using tablets, email, texting and the Web, while Cureatr has developed a messaging system that conforms to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). It integrates provider directories as well as scheduling and patient systems.
The list of firms selected also includes MedCPU, which has developed Advisor Button technology to capture dictated clinician notes, enter them into an EHR and provide analysis for the data in real time to help doctors deliver better care.
Remedy Systems offers a mobile platform for care coordination, and SpectraMD has developed a business intelligence platform called Focus Actionable Analytics.

The accelerator program will provide access to senior-level New York State health care providers, which will mentor the new companies. The 22 health care providers serving as mentors include the North Shore-LIJ Health System and the NYU Langone Medical Center.
The feedback from the health care providers will allow the accelerator companies to create jobs in the New York health IT sector, Maria Gotsch, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City Fund, said in a statement.
In an initial investment, the parties spent $4.2 million to create 1,500 health care IT jobs in the New York accelerator program in the next five years. The companies will raise about $150 million to $200 million in venture capital after the program is complete, according to NYeC.
"We now have the ability to build a health care IT innovation center here," David Whitlinger, NYeC's executive director, told reporters at a press conference. "This can be the place where companies come and build health care IT and export it throughout the rest of the country, if not internationally."
The digital health accelerator is the largest-funded health IT accelerator program in the United States, according to NYeC.
"The accelerator is an essential first step to stimulate the market and nurture innovation within the entrepreneurial community," New York State Health Commissioner Nirav R. Shah said in a statement.
Investors in the accelerator include Aetna, Janssen Healthcare Innovation, New Leaf Venture Partners and UnitedHealth Group.
Tech companies involved in the project will have access to EHRs in New York's HIE.
"These companies are the first software development vendors to have direct access to the SHIN-NY, a secure platform that embodies all of the federal and state policies for usage of patient data by the community," said Whitlinger.

Brian T. Horowitz is a freelance technology and health writer as well as a copy editor. Brian has worked on the tech beat since 1996 and covered health care IT and rugged mobile computing for eWEEK since 2010. He has contributed to more than 20 publications, including Computer Shopper, Fast Company, FOXNews.com, More, NYSE Magazine, Parents, ScientificAmerican.com, USA Weekend and Womansday.com, as well as other consumer and trade publications. Brian holds a B.A. from Hofstra University in New York.